I have changed!
by Rise-of-the-writer
Summary: This is a sequel to Changing. Mai joins the old team, and agrees to work under Oliver Davis again. But feelings and secrets makes it hard for Mai and the team to trust each other. Will the team survive or is it doomed to fall apart?
1. Chapter 1

**Wow! Well here I am again, with a sequel to Changing. This is long overdue and I know it, Im so sorry for all you people that have been waiting for this!**

 **I also want to say Thank you so much to all of you who reviewed Changing, without you I would never have made this sequel.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own ghost hunt.**

* * *

It has only been 2 months since I came back and joined the old team. It was almost frustrating how easily I had gone back to working for Oliver again. Why did I decide to work for him again? I don`t even call him Naru anymore, that should have been a big hint that we are not the same old thing. But still here I am, working under the same guy that threw me out like trash.

They don`t even know the whole truth of what I did on my travels. I made up some lie about seeing the world and they believed it. Nico says I should tell them, something about it being harmful to the cases with how it is. I kinda see what he means but I just can`t make myself tell them. The thought scares me more than I would like to admit. Sometimes I wanted to tell them but I couldn't bring myself to fully trust them. They were the ones who left me alone. The gang had not talked about it yet, but I was waiting for it. The talk that could make or break the future. Of course I was nervous, I had not forgiven them for what they did. I didn't know if I could, and that scared me.

In these times I couldn`t have been more grateful to be friends with Nico. He kept me together and made me believe that everything was going to be ok. He was the support I always wanted Oliver to be. Some days I could forget my love for Oliver and wonder how much I loved Nico instead. But no matter how many days was like that, I still couldn`t shake the love for Oliver totally off.

Yes two months went by very fast just like the two years beforehand. It didn't go long before the routine was back like it used to be. The difference was that we had Nico working with us on cases as well. Sometimes he came with me to work at the office, I suspect it was to watch over me. He and Naru have been fighting a lot. They just don't go together well and I don`t know why. It`s not like they beat each other up, more like they always have a glaring competition going on. Its like a silent fight, they just glare but you can see how they are actually fighting inside. It could be hilarious but sometimes it was more annoying.

Right now we were on a case, which seems normal enough. I already know that there were three ghosts involved here. I won`t tell Naru yet though, I had to get some "sleep" first. That was how I hid my knowledge and powers. If I told him the information came from a dream he wouldn't think that I had gotten it any other way. It was quite a good way to make sure I could still use my new powers and such without him and the gang finding out.

We had just finished setting up the monitors and cameras and I was about to take my "nap".

"Mai, Tea" And there it was, the famous phrase that my boss seemed to love. I rolled my eyes at the order and got up to get it.

"I can go with you" Nico said.

"I`m gonna be fine Nico, you don't have to go with me" He almost protested, but I gave him a stare and he obeyed. He was good at following orders, but he also put me way too high. He would probably insist on making the tea as he thought I was above such servant like activity.

He disapproved of Narus way to boss me around which in a way I could see why. I did get annoyed by Oliver at times, but if I truly didn't want to do something I could easily not do it. No matter what Oliver said he never fired me so it didn't matter.

As I waited for the water to heat up, I started to think about the case we had. The ghosts here had decided that they didn't like two friends of the woman who hired us. Her two male friends were often shoved or pushed down when they visited her. At first she had thought they were just very clumsy, but a week ago one of the friends were pushed down the stairs. The friend broke a leg and didn't dare to come visit her anymore.

Oliver didn't think it would be a hard case so he only asked monk to come with us. So that made a team of four this time. me, Nico, Oliver, and Monk. Lin who normally would be here, was on a visit to his family in china. In one way this made me nervous, not because of the case. But his family is the one who taught me when I was in china. Hopefully he wouldn't hear about me from them.

I finished pouring the tea into a cup and started walking towards the others. Nothing happened on the way so I just gave the tea to Naru and went straight for the couch. It was normal for me to take a nap after all the equipment was in place. Monk suddenly threw a pillow at me, which I thankfully caught before it could hit my face.

"Sleep tight" he said with a smirk.

The moment my head fell on the pillow I fell asleep, ready to gather more information.

It was still weird to be in so much control. Now I could get almost whatever info that I wanted. I just had to be careful with what I said when I was awake. If I could tell Naru everything he needed to know, then he would start to suspect me.

* * *

DREAM START

As usual I opened my eyes to find darkness which no longer frightened me. I looked around me and started to search for the ghosts. It didn't take me long to find one of them, but the weird thing was that he looked like Nico. Of course, I knew that he really didn't look like that. I had seen all the three ghosts already so it was just a question of what this meant. When he saw me he started to smile.

"There you are, I was looking for you" He told me

"Why? Did something happen?" I went along with it, as I started to analyse the situation.

"No, I wanted to tell you something" Then before I got the chance to reply, he kissed me.

It was not a long one, but I was still left with a short breath. Mostly out of surprise though.

"I love you" he said with a loving smile.

I almost forgot about it being a dream, I wanted this to be true. The truth though was too clear to be overseen. I could only stare at him with a sad look. I was about to talk when I felt someone take my hand from behind me.

"Mai" It sounded like Naru and I was not surprised when I saw the second ghost appear as him.

He kissed my hand in a way that Naru never would, before he too kissed me. I didn't know what to do, the two of them were now holding onto me.

"Mai, please choose" they said simultaneously.

I was tired of this craziness so I decided to stop it.

"Can you both please stop it?"

"I love you, I can`t live without you" They were still saying the same thing. It was really starting to annoy me.

"let go!" I got away from their hands.

"Why are you leaving? I thought you loved me" I couldn't see that they had any ill intentions, but this was still very much creepy.

"Why are you two doing this?"

"What do you mean?"

"How did you die?" Both of them stopped their movements. The Nico look alike wasn't looking at me anymore. Naru kept watching me looking a bit hurt. They turned away and dissapeared into the darkness, leaving me frustrated. I sighed loudly but found no reason to cry over lost milk so I went to find the last ghost.

The third ghost I found was a woman. She was pacing in circles muttering to herself.

"They are so stupid! They cant leave a poor girl alone. They don't get it do they? The girl probably don't even want them. I shoul…"

"Excuse me? Who are they?" The rage was radiating off her, and it was kinda hard to take.

She looked surprised up at me and in a flash she was by my side.

"Oh! You poor girl"

"What?" I was no girl, I was a woman.

"You must really be tired by those boys aren't you?"

"What boys?" I had my suspicions to who she meant.

"The two who love you, of course."

Now this was a shocker, Nico and Naru loving me! No that wasn't true.

"They don't love me"

"Shh, they do! They are always fighting over you"

"That's not because they love me, at least not like that. Nico is just a bit overdramatic and Naru has already shot me down" This woman couldn't possibly be telling the truth. Maybe she were just misunderstanding the two.

"It is better if you stop hanging around them, they will only give you grief" The woman was now looking sad, like she was reliving a memory.

"I won`t" The words came too quick.

"You must" The woman whispered so low it was hard to hear. "if you don't, you will only regret it. I know its hard but it is for the best" She was crying now.

I put my arms around her, hoping it would calm her down.

"What is your name?" I had forgotten to ask the other ghosts, but for now it was important to help this woman. Even if she was a ghost she could still feel.

It took a little while before she said anything, and I almost gave up hope.

"Honda Yuko"

"Well my names Taniyama Mai, im here to help you"

"How?" Yuko got out of the hug so she could look at me.

"I will help you get some peace"

"I will never be free from the pain" There was hurt in her voice.

"Maybe not by yourself but im here."

She was going to say something, but before she could I felt a tug from reality. I didn't want to leave before I got some more info. The tugging became stronger and I decided it was best to give in to it.

"Im sorry but I have to leave. Someone is trying to wake me up"

She nodded her head a little sad. "Will you come back?"

"I promise" I gave her a big smile, which made her smile a little.

DREAM END

I woke up to everybody looking at me.

"What?" I asked, it seemed I may have slept a bit longer than intended.

"Its gone a full hour, we were worried something had happened" Monk always the worrier.

I feigned shock and hurried up on my feet. "I guess kazuya wants his tea" I was about to leave the room.

"You must be an idiot to not tell about your dream" He doesn't even ask If I had a dream.

"There isn't much to say. I think there are three ghosts at least I didn't meet any more than that. Two guys and one woman. I dont know the name of the guys but the woman told me her name was Honda Yuko." I started to leave again, but was once more stopped.

"What did they do?" Oliver was too nosy. I pretended to be thinking and said with just right tone.

"Nothing really, they didn't give any clues as to what Is going on here." I needed to think a bit more before I could start giving out more clues.

Nico stood up to follow me, and for once I didn't want him with me. It wasnt unusual for me to tell him to stay at base, but this time I really didn't want him with me.

"Nico, you don't need to follow me" I gave him a look and he took the hint. I could see that he wanted to go but at least he respected my wishes. Not like Naru who almost never did that, except for when I told him my dreams.

The moment I left the room I sighed in relief. I looked at the door and started thinking of the two boys that I loved. None whom I could ever believe would return the love. I turned around and almost shrieked when the client stood right in front of me. Luckily no sound came out. Just because I could see more with my powers it didn't make it impossible to frighten me.

The poor woman looked so guilty and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Im sorry, its been awhile since I got spooked like that. To be honest I think I needed that" I tried to stop laughing as I spoke and succeeded somewhat. I still had a big smile on my face, and looked at the woman.

"Oh no! I should be the one to be sorry. I should have given you a warning."

"Its fine, was there something you needed?"

"Um well, no maybe its just stupid. It cant be important"

"Are you sure? Anything could be of importance"

"Ah yes, I shouldn't have bothered you."

"If your sure, than I won`t push you. Im going to the kitchen to make some tea, do you want to come?"

"Okay"

To lift the mood I started to talk about everyday stuff. Like I had travelled the world and came back just two months ago. When I told her of the countries she started to liven up a little and ask me some questions. I gladly shared her my experiences, but kept out the part about the paranormal training. She told me about her life and how she had been alone a lot in her childhood. When she grew up she got to know these two guys, who were practically her only friends. They are the ones who have been attacked by the ghosts here. I felt there were something more, but I didn't like to push her.

As I made the tea I was reminded about the dream I had. The client was still talking, but I started to space out. Nico and Oliver telling that they loved me, what could it mean? Maybe the ghosts were doing it unconsciously, but then they reacted to my question about their deaths. They must have known. Then why disguise themselves, did they have a goal? Well duh, there is something keeping them here, of course they have a goal of some sort.

Nico and Oliver doesn't really love me, and then we got Yuko who told me that they did. At the same time she didn't want me to be together with them. If I connect the two what do I get? Was she a friend of the other two? What does this have to do with our client?

"Excuse me" Suddenly I was looking at the client again. She looked worried at me and I realized I must have spaced out. My cheeks flushed a little, I have to be careful and keep the thinking to when im alone.

"Im sorry! I must have spaced out" The woman pointed to the now boiling water.

I quickly fixed the tea, which I then took with me.

"Is everything okay? You looked a bit troubled" She asked.

"Yes, I was just thinking of the case" She nodded in reply.

"Well I have to go now, I just remembered I have things to do"

"Of course, If there is anything you shouldn't hesitate to talk to us" I gave her a smile as she left.

Later that evening we were just sitting around. Nothing had happened which isn't so weird since sometimes ghosts took some time to get used to strangers. It was a shame that masako wasn't with us, she could have easily spoken to the ghosts. If I just went over to Yuko who was now just standing in a corner looking worried, I would reveal myself. Since everybody was bored it seemed like the staring competition between Nico and Naru was worse than ever. One of them would probably explode soon. I was tired of the tense atmosphere of the two which in turn was starting to irritate me. Poor Monk was trying to not die under the pressure of the two. Maybe I should do something.

"Nico" The effect was immediate, he looked straight at me.

"Yes Hime" And there was the nickname, I mentally shook my head.

"I`m going out for a walk, you want to come?" I didn't need to ask, if he could he would have followed my every footstep.

"Of course" I almost missed the smirk he sent to Naru. Now why were the two of them like this? I could already see that Naru would say something about it being too dangerous to go.

"Mai, you should stay at base" yup, I called it. But the thing was that I was more defiant now. If I wanted to go out I went out. I would respect him when his demands were reasonable but there were nothing happening here there was no reason to stay.

"I`m sorry mr Kazuya, but there are no reason for me to stay at the moment. If something were to happen we will of course return to base at once" Then I left without so much of a glance more at Oliver.

I didn't need to look behind me to know that Nico was there. I went straight out wanting to get out into the fresh evening air. There were no cameras out here so I felt more free than inside.

I let out a breath and closed my eyes with a smile. Nico were quiet not saying a word, he could probably see that I needed this little moment.

"I`m so close to the truth of this house, but the ghosts are acting weird. And I`m worried about Yuko I think she was just an innocent bystander" I said with my eyes closed.

"You should be more worried about the living people" Nico said. I turned to him an opened my eyes.

"I know but most people don't worry about the ghosts, they are people as well. The only true difference is that one side is alive and the other is dead" I stared at him.

"You should be more careful, they may seem like the living but they aren't like us. One day that thinking will get you killed"

"Cant living people kill? The living can go mad too, not just the dead but both sides can" I said a little too loud. He looked even more worried now.

"Still, please be careful." He begged of me.

"I will try" it became quiet for a few seconds.

Aside from that, what did you really dream about?" He asked after finally letting the argument go.

I turned away and watched him from the corner of my eye. It would be embarrassing to tell him about the dream, but it always felt better to share my dreams fully. Nico was also a great listener and I trusted him.

"In my dream the two male ghosts was pretending to be Kazuya and…" My cheeks flushed. How could I tell him?

"And.." He looked curious.

"And….. you." He looked shocked at me.


	2. Chapter 2: Is it Love?

**Yes! Here is the next chapter. I am busy most of the time right now, but will try to get a chapter out as often as I can. Thank you for reading my story and for everyone who leaves a review.**

 **Disclaimer: Once more I have to insist that I do not own Ghost hunt.**

* * *

" _In my dream the two male ghosts was pretending to be Naru and…" My cheeks flushed. How could I tell him?_

" _And.." He looked a bit amused, it wasn't often I had dreams like these but it was always hard to tell about them._

" _And….. you." He looked shocked at me ._

"What?"

"Yeah I know, it was so weird! The ghosts told me that they both loved me and one of them kissed me." I blushed.

"Was there anything else?" He asked.

"Yes I met Yuko afterwards and she told me to get away from you two, since you were both fighting for my love, but that`s crazy, right?"

Nico didn't answer me. He was smiling at me his eyes showed something I often could see in myself when I looked in mirrors and was thinking of Naru.I couldn't help myself, I just had to see his aura, and what I saw amazed me. There was a reason why I didn't use the aura ability, and right now I was looking at one of those reasons. To be able to see the love somebody has for you can be overwhelming and overshadow your own feelings. Even with the control I had wasn't enough to keep myself from stuttering.

"It`s… it`s… it`s true, you love me" He only nodded. The pinkish color around him pulsated even louder if that was possible. But also a sad blue seeped out from under the pink.

"This was not how I wanted you to know, I wish I could have told you personally. Given you what you deserve, a proper confession" He looked ashamed.

I had to stop it! It was too much to feel and I had to stop. It became so quiet that I had to take a breather and close my eyes for a second before I could think properly again.

I wasn't sure what to think, I mean I knew that I loved him. But I also had feelings for Naru, feelings I shouldn't bring into another relationship. What should I do?

Suddenly a crash sounded from inside, Me and Nico ran to the noise.

Oliver was lying on the bottom of the stairs, a camera lay beside him. My heart hitched and I couldn't help my worried voice.

"Naru!?" To my relief he got up on his feet, a little unsteady and definitely a trip to the hospital, but he was alive. The others was already here, Monk was nagging Naru about going to the hospital, which Naru as usual declined. I wouldn't have that, I could see that he was hurting.

"You WILL go to the hospital" Naru almost looked shocked, I didn't care.

"I'm fi.." He was silenced by my glare.

"No, You are not fine and since Lin isn't here somebody has to make you sure you behave" I flipped open my cellphone. Oliver almost looked offended and had the most comical face I had ever seen on him.

"If you don't go, I will call your parents" He glared at me, but the threat of calling his parents silenced him. It was silent for several moments and I was already about to call.

"Stop, I will go" He gave an angry huff. Monk looked relieved and thanked me silently, I nodded back to him.

* * *

My heart was still racing from the shock, but I managed to get Monk to drive him while me and Nico would stay behind watching the base. It shocked me how much I had reacted to him being hurt. My feelings for Oliver will never fade and somehow that thought angered me a little. How can it be so hard to fall out of love for that jerk. He doesn't even love me. On the other side of things I had Nico who I have seen and heard that he loves me, but I could never reciprocate that love entirely. He would be doomed to share that love with the jerk of a boss.

I looked over at Nico who had just arrived with a cup of tea for me. I don't know what to do with him. I think I love him and since he loves me back it shouldn't be a problem, but it is. Do I truly love him? It could be that i'm just trying to make up for how it's been with Naru. Many questions ran through my head and only I could find the answers. I was starting to think that maybe Yuko could be right. These two boys were giving me so much grief. I shouldn't have come back, I shouldn't have taken this job. Was this even what I wanted with my life? I knew that my place was in the paranormal, but how? The family I once had are gone, and it feels like they think that everything is okay.

I was beyond confused. Me and Nico was sitting at base watching the screens in case anything happened. There was an awkward silence between us. Sometimes I snuck glances at Nico wondering if I should say anything, but he took the decision to start talking.

"Mai, I don't want this to be how it is. I know it's hard for you, I know your feelings for Oliver. But please talk to me, no matter how it ends I will always stay your friend" He was looking at me I just knew it, but I couldn't look at him. Suddenly I felt his hand under my cheek and he made me look at him.

"Look at me" he said kindly. I was almost crying but tried to hold it in.

"You are confused, there isn't just your relationship with me and Oliver. You also have problems trusting the ones who you once saw as a family. You still feel betrayed by them, I can see that. If they can't, then they are blind" I couldn't hold back the tears.

"There is also one more thing…" I could see that he was hesitating, there was this one thing I hadn't discussed with him.

"Say it" my voice was weak but he heard it.

"Do you even know what you want to do yet?" No, I wanted to scream that no I wasn't sure of my own future. I only shook my head in defeat. I felt like I was throwing away who I truly was. I couldn't keep hiding who I was. I loved the ghosts and the abilities and the thrill of every case.

Nico had let go of my chin and I looked back at the ground. He started hugging me.

"You can use as long as you want, I won't expect an answer before you are ready."

"Thank you" I whispered. Nico let go of me and now without a doubt I looked him in the eye.

I dried my tears and smiled a little.

"I don't know if I can ever be able to give you a good answer. You have been such a good friend and have been there for me when I needed you. But I don't want you to feel obligated to stay, If you ever find out that you want to leave then do so. Don't be as stupid as me and wait your whole life for the right answers"

"Then who would be there when you fall? Somebody has to be sure you don't do anything stupid." Nico started laughing, and the mood lightened up. It made me very happy that he was staying.

" **He will only cause trouble, no matter what you have agreed upon. He will never give up on you!** " The words were neither mine nor Nico`s. Yuko stood in the middle of the room looking angry for once.

"Yuko!" I stayed where I was, she seemed sane earlier but something told me she had changed. She sounded a little bitter, maybe something about this situation reminded her of something? Before I could talk to her Monk opened the door with a shout. Yuko left as silently as she had arrived while I had been scared into hiding behind Nico. Behind Monk, Naru came walking in at a slower pace.

"Naru will need to take it easy for a few days, but luckily he didn't break anything. So how has the two lovebirds been?" I sighed loudly before I pouted.

"You scared me! I thought you were a ghost or something. And for all you know we could actually be lovebirds, either way I wouldn't tell you" That last sentence came out a little harsh, and Monks face fell and showed guilt. I ignored him and moved my attention over to my boss.

"Well it's good that you're okay Kazuya, do you want your tea now?"

"Yes" A short reply as usual, and Nico`s glare was right on time. For once Oliver ignored the glare and looked to me once again.

"Take Monk with you, I don't want you to go alone" It was annoying and a little unnecessary, but I accepted it. I smiled to myself and thought it would be good to get monk away from the two boys. I smiled to Nico and he nodded back with a smile before going full on glaring again.

"Okay, let's go monk" I caught monk by the hand and dragged him out. He followed but when he closed the door he looked a little worried.

"Are you sure they won't kill each other"

"Nope, but they can't keep this on forever. Nico is a very good friend of mine whom I actually trust and Naru will just have to accept it." I noticed how quiet Monk became after I said that.

I was dreading that he would start something I just didn't feel like dealing with today. Luckily for me he was quiet all the way until we returned with the tea. I should have asked if he was okay, but the idea of starting anything scared me enough to stay quiet.

I opened the door to the base expecting to see Oliver and Nico glaring at each other. Which was exactly what I found, they were sitting exactly like we left them. I breathed a little easier knowing they hadn't destroyed the place. I looked out the window and saw how late it had become.

"Kazuya, Monk why don't you two leave for the day. Me and Nico can watch over the base tonight" It was more like an order than a question.

"I will stay here" Of course Oliver would say that.

"Just go, or she will make you and you know it. Didn't the doctor tell you to take it easy?" Nico looked at Oliver with a smirk so big that it was impossible to ignore.

Oliver tried to get a word in, but Monk had decided to say his part as well.

"They are right, you should really get some proper rest. We will see you tomorrow then, be careful you two" Monk dragged Oliver with him. The boss tried of course to get away but wasn't successful. If I wasn't so tired I would have laughed, for now a smile was enough.

Our client arrived right as the two left. In her hands she held a tray with food for us. The food reminded me just how hungry I was and couldn't wait to take a bite. She looked shocked at the two who just left.

"Is that normal?" She asked in a hushed voice. I smiled and shrug my shoulders.

She gave a small smile and placed the food on the table. She was about to leave when it seemed like she had changed her mind.

"Is there something wrong?" It seemed that this day wouldn't end.

"I was thinking of telling you about something. It is probably nothing, but earlier you said that anything could help" It was about time that the client would come with forgotten or hidden information.

"Of course, you would be surprised about where some of our most important clues have come from"

"Well this…. There has been… Oh this is hard. I have been having a dream for a while"

Nico gave me a note pad and something to write with.

"In the dream my two friends that I told you about, they were trying to make me choose between them. They both told me they loved me and sometimes they fight"

"Is there anything else that happens?"

"there are times when…" She was having a hard time now, there were tears in her eyes.

"It's okay" I tried comforting her.

"Im sorry, its just that. There are times when they kill each other and me. It just gives me such a fright" She was shaking, even I who were used to those types of dreams had a hard time with them.

"Why don't you go relax, it is starting to get late" I smiled comfortingly and helped her up from the chair.

"Thank you, I will do that" She left and I and Nico was left alone.

I sat down on the couch with a huff. The food on the table didn't look so good anymore. What the client said, made me think of some bad dreams I had had. Nico had already started to eat. I knew that he wanted me to eat, but this was far from the first time this had happened. I was also thinking of how we had similar dreams. In her dream the ghosts was pretending to be her friends.

I started to see the pattern, maybe they had been in love with the same girl. It could have something to do with Yuko, but I couldn't be sure of that.

"Nico I think the two men who were nagging me in my dream, I think they fell in love with the same girl" Nico nodded.

"They probably killed each other in a fight. The last ghost was probably the girl they loved" He said as he took another bite of his sandwich. Sometimes he seemed so cold, and then I remembered his family and could see where the resemblance was.

I thought about his words and found that my instincts believed them. Yuko is probably the one hurting the guys. It would be understandable since she would have a grudge against guys fighting over one girl. I wondered how we could help them.

* * *

Through the night me and Nico kept watch and sometimes had the occasional visit of Yuko who quickly disappeared again. Most of the time it was quiet, but it was a good quiet and I didn't mind having the time to relax a little.


	3. Chapter 3: Ending a case

**Hey! I`m so sorry for the long wait. I`m in a very busy time right now and couldn`t take the time to fix this chapter until now. I will probably not be able to get another chapter out until a week from now but dont panic I will finish this story. And thank you so much for all of you reading this story and an even bigger thanks if you leave a review.**

 **I`m not sure yet if it will end up as NicoxMai or NaruxMai. I`m all for giving Naru as much hell as possible for how he treated Mai but we will just have to wait and see ;)**

 **It is also important to note that the story is far from over.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own ghost hunt.**

* * *

 _Through the night me and Nico kept watch and sometimes had the occasional visit of Yuko who quickly disappeared again. Most of the time it was quiet, but it was a good quiet and I didn't mind having the time to relax a little._

At around 8 AM Monk and Oliver arrived at the base. Both eager to get done with the case. We told them of what we had discovered the last night before we started working. Monk and Nico went out to take the temperatures for today. Me and Oliver sat in the base watching the monitors.

Oliver was usually very good at keeping quiet, but today it was more like he wasn't even there. I almost wanted to ask him what was wrong but he probably would just scoff at me for worrying. At some point the other two came back and for a moment there was life in the base again. It didn't last long however and before I knew it it was suddenly quiet again.

"Mai, go get some sleep. It would be useful if you could have another dream" Oliver said. I wanted to argue that I wasn't tired but it didnt seem worth it today. So I did as he said and took a nap, where I jumped into the dream world again. I couldn't let any worries distract me while I was here so I put away my worries for the boss.

 **DREAM START**

In the memories of the ghosts I found the truth of this story. The two males were called Sato and Aoto and both of them had been in love with Yuko. They both had proclaimed their love with flowers and good words. The decision was up to Yuko, but in the end she couldn't manage to choose between them.

The two men started fighting one day they were visiting Yuko at the same time. Aoto somehow got a hold of a knife and threatened Sato. Yuko had intercepted the knife and got stabbed instead of Sato. In the confusion Aoto dropped the knife and started panicking. In his eyes it was Sato`s fault and he jumped him. Sato got a choke hold on Aoto and started strangling Aoto. Aoto died and Sato was left with internal bleeding and died before he could get help. Poor Yuko died while watching the two men fighting.

 **DREAM END**

I woke up a little shaken but after a cup of tea I was feeling better.

"You sure you are okay?" Nico had been a little worried when he had seen my hands shaking.

"Yup" I answered with a smile.

After I told them what happened in the dream, Oliver went quiet again and turned to the screens. With the dream I had all the gaps had been filled we only needed to decide a course of action.

I was just on my way to the kitchen to make more tea when I heard some talking inside the kitchen. I heard our client and two voices I couldn't recognise. My hand was on the doorknob not certain if I should stay or not. It didn't feel right to eavesdrop so I decided to leave. I was about to leave and come back later when suddenly there were loud noises. I quickly tried to open the door, which of course were stuck.

To not be the one in danger was not a feeling I was used to, but nowadays I could actually protect myself so it wasn't such a big deal.

Instead of standing around waiting for help I just put my hand straight on the door and said an incantation. Obstacles like these weren't so hard to get by as long as one knew how. It also helped that no one was around to discover my talents.

The Kitchen was a chaos with the client on the floor and two males clinging to each other on the other side of the room. It was almost hilarious had it not been for Yuko standing between them. She looked angrily at the two men, knifes were hovering in the air around her. Nico, Oliver and Monk arrived but I paid them no mind. My eyes were on Yuko, I could also see that the two other ghosts were here. They were only watching for now so I didn't worry too much about them.

"Yuko?" She looked over to me.

"You should just listen to me, they will be the death of you one day!" She said to me.

"But I wouldn't be happy like that. I may not have made my choice, but I think its time you took yours" I gave her a sad smile. She calmed slightly but quickly flared up again.

"I did! I didn't want to be with either of them! They were the ones who started this!" Tears leaked from her eyes.

"Did you tell them?"

"No, but…" She went quiet.

"Tell them" I told her, she looked lost at me. She had calmed down and the knifes were on the floor now. She looked towards the two men who had been the cause of her death.

"I.. I just wanted to be your friend. It was all I wanted" Now that she was calmer I had stepped up and stood by her.

"We didn't want this to happen, we just wanted an answer and before we knew it we had fought to the death" Yuko was still crying and looked unsure. Sato and Aoto held out their hands and though Yuko was unsure she went over to them and gave them a small smile.

"Let's go together then" In a moment the three of them hugged and disappeared to the other side.

I had forgotten about the others but quickly remembered where I was. Nico gave me a thumbs up and smiled. Monk looked slightly shocked, and Naru looked like he always did, his eyes looked sad though. Oliver left the kitchen to start packing not paying attention to the client still on the floor.

"Are you okay" I asked our client and her friends. They nodded and got off the ground and on their feet. Monk and Nico left, probably to help Oliver.

"Excuse me for asking, but what were you talking about when the ghost attacked"

"That's okay, we were agreeing to be friends" I nodded, that must have set Yuko off.

"Thank you, well I have to go help the others pack, but I will be sure to say goodbye before we leave" I gave them a smile, which they returned. I left the kitchen and headed for base.

There I found Oliver, the others weren't here. I suddenly realised I was alone with him, and he was looking at me with a serious expression. Oh boy I was in for it, he was going to give me a talk about not doing stuff like that again.

"Mai, help me pack down the monitors" That was not what I was expecting. I didn't question the lack of pep talk, but it unnerved me a bit. The whole day he and Monk had been acting a little weird, being more quiet than usual. I didn't like it that they were acting like this.

I went over to him and slowly started to help him pack. After some time, Nico and Monk came back with the cameras. Nico was joking about something or other, but now also he seemed a little different. Monk looked like he was back to normal, but there were still something wrong. I couldn't put my finger on what was wrong, but would figure it out when I got Nico for myself. Maybe he knew what was going on with the others.

Later on we said our goodbyes and left. The car ride wasn't long and soon enough we were back at the office.

That evening I was back home in my apartment. Nico was sitting on my coach drinking from a cup of coffee. I had made myself a cup of tea and sat down in one of the chairs.

My apartment was reasonably big, not too small and not too big for one person. I had a living room, kitchen, one bathroom and two bedrooms. After I came back from my trip I decided to move to another apartment, I needed the extra room it gave me. I also lived in a better area now, so there were better security and I felt a bit safer.

"There was something you wanted to tell me?" Nico had a playful smile on his face.

"Don't play with me, you, Naru and monk behaved a bit strange on the case, What was that about? Don't lie to me you know I will know if you do"

Nico met my stare with eyes filled with both worry and determination.

"It seemed that someone actually caught onto the fact that you maybe hadn't forgiven them"

I sighed "It was monk wasn't it" It was a statement not a question. Nico nodded with a grim look.

"When we were taking down the cameras he told me about it. He was worried about what you thought of them."

"What did you tell him?" I held the cup nervously.

"That if he was worried than he should talk with you" I looked to the ground with a sad look.

"Why haven't he thought of that before? It's been 2 months since I came back, they must have surely thought that what they did wasn't okay" I was getting a little frustrated.

"I asked him of it, he answered that yes of course they had worried about you, but it wasn't before he heard you say whatever you said that he thought of how bad it was. To be honest they had just pushed it away and hoped that it would go back to normal"

"What! How could they even think like that?!" I let go of the cup I held and with my pk let it stay in the air while I paced and ranted. Nico watched me.

"Mai" I stopped pacing and looked at him with tears in my eyes.

"They really thought things would go back to normal?" Nico placed his cup on the table and stood up. He gave me a hug a good and strong hug. My tears were flowing again, it felt good to be held and when I calmed down he let go. Nico took the cup which was still floating in the air and gave it to me.

"You haven't acted much different from how you did two years ago, in their eyes you probably looked happy with how it was. I'm sorry to say it but maybe its time to tell them" I felt his hand on my shoulder. I was scared of agreeing with him. I knew that if the trust was going to be established again I needed to tell them the truth.

"I don't want to"

"I know, but someday they will know. You won't stay hidden like this for long. There are rumors of a girl who knows about everything there is to know about the paranormal"

"Yes, I have heard the rumors. Luckily they haven't given my name to just anyone. I talked with Lin Ai just after we arrived in japan. The one that I met in china. She told me that they would only give the name to people if I said they could"

"But that won't last, someday everyone will know"

"I'm already prepared for the possibility that Lin knows when he returns. He should be back next week" Nico nodded

"Do you have any thoughts of what role you want to have in the paranormal world?"

I shook my head "I'm not sure, I feel that I will continue with cases, but if im going to stay here or start solving cases on my own is another question. Hopefully I will figure something out" I had one idea of what I wanted but I couldn't say it out loud.

"It's starting to get late" Nico said absently.

I looked at the clock and agreed when I saw that it was almost midnight.

"You should probably get home and sleep some. It's been a couple of long days, I don't have work tomorrow so we can go out on the town or something and talk more then" Hurriedly I started to push him to the door.

"Are you sure? You going to be okay by yourself here?" I considered the questions and found myself sneaking a look at my guest bedroom. I was surprised when I found that I wanted him to stay.

"You could stay?" It sounded unsure but the more i looked at him the more I wanted him to hold around me and hug me all night. The thought made me blush so hard that I was sure he could see it. I let my eyes fall to the floor in embarrassment.

"I would love to" I lifted my eyes again and the soft smile on his face made me forget everything else. He kissed my cheek and went off into the guest bedroom with a soft goodnight. I barely managed to say goodnight back to him.

For the first time in forever Oliver didn't cloud my mind and all I could think of as I layed in bed that night was Nico and the warmth he had brought into my life. Not even dreams plagued me as I dreamt of soft smiles and warm hugs.

 **A week later**

I sat at my desk looking through some papers. From time to time I glanced over to Lins office. He was back from his trip to china and it killed me to not know if he knew about my secret. I had only seen a glimpse of him when I arrived this morning, but he had kept himself in his office since then.

After a few hours I had to do something about it. I needed to talk to Lin before I went crazy. I wished Nico could have been here but for once he was busy with something. He had been called home to America and when he left he had this panicked look to him. I didn't dare to ask but told him that he only needed to ask if he needed help.

I got up from my chair and decided to make tea for the guys. My hands were shaking a bit but I managed to calm down enough to at least deliver the tea to Naru without looking suspicious. When I stood outside of Lin's door I could feel my hands shaking again. I knocked on the door announcing my entrance.

I opened the door and almost lost the cup when I saw Lin. He looked tired, like he hadnt slept in several days. His aura told that he was irritated and I just knew that this was it.

"Why are you hiding it?" I sighed and sat down in a chair. My eyes everywhere but on Lin.

"I don't trust you anymore" I lifted my eyes to look Lin in the eyes.

"Why?"

"You know exactly why, I don't have to explain myself"

"No, I don't understand, please tell me why you would keep something like this from us. We could have help…"

"Did you really think that you could just leave like that without as much as a warning and then expect me to call you right after?" I was careful to not shout so Naru could hear, but I still sounded angry. Lin was taken a bit aback, and clenched his hands into fists.

"No Lin, You guys hurt me and I thought you were my family"

"We still are" I heard a bell in the distance but ignored it.

"Then why did you leave me?" I had calmed a little and were sad now. Lin was quiet for some time before he answered.

"We wanted to protect you" I looked at him shocked.

"How was that protecting me?" I shook my head in sadness.

"We knew your powers were growing and thought that if we left and that you weren't involved with the paranormal, that they would stop growing"

"So why come back?" I was confused.

"We realized how important you were to us, that we shouldn't have done what we did. If we could have we would have taken it all back and never done it" I looked at my hands, they were shaking a little. How could I ever have been important to them, they wouldn't have left me at all if they cared.

"I'm sorry" I felt my breath hitch. He had apologized.

"Lin, I.. I know that you feel guilty and I wish I could say anything to make it better, but I don't know if I can ever forgive you" Tears were falling down now, the drops sounded loud as they hit the floor.

"I can't believe I even took this job back. It was a spur of the moment, and right now im wondering if I ever should have returned here" Lin was about to say something, but I wouldn't take it. I got up and was out the door before anyone had the chance of stopping me. Naru stood in the lobby with a client and the only thing I could do was say sorry as I ran out of the building.

I never should have returned back here. The rain that now came down heavily, wasn't a thing of my mind. It was like the rain was a part of me, my tears flowing with it. My feet carrying me wherever they wanted, past people who would look strangely and worriedly at me. This place where I grew up, seemed like it would never let me stay happy. First we lost dad who were the one who supported us, mom had to become strong after that. I never understood how she could smile after dad's death.

How can someone who has lost their love of their life continue to live on. I hadn't even gotten the chance to have anything with Naru and still it felt like what he did back then was to take a part of my heart and crush it. It didn't help that the others left with him, I just felt so worthless at that moment. I thought I at least had become a little better since that time, but now I see how I just hid the issue.

Naru, Lin, Monk, Ayako, Masako, Yasuhara, John, I couldn't pretend to like them anymore. If I was ever going to get any piece of mind I needed to talk to them. I had to stop hiding my true feelings. They have to know how I feel, but how could I even start telling them?

It hurt too much to talk about it and they never said anything.

Do they really care? Then why? Why are we still pretending? I know that they know that this can't continue like this. My mind were just jumbled up now, nothing made sense to me anymore. My powers that I haven't had problems with for a long time started to act up. A trash can falling over, a person being slightly pushed, auras and ghosts invaded my vision. In the end I teleported to a place where I could be by myself; The graveyard.


	4. Chapter 4: A new case

**HELLO! I`m so late with this so im sorry about that. Right now im almost screaming in excitement because E3 is this week. I love watching it Live and have been looking forward to it. Thank you to all reviews and all of you who have read this so far. At the bottom of the story I will from now on put answers to reviews.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own ghost hunt.**

* * *

 _In the end I teleported to a place where I could be by myself; The graveyard._

Ahead of me laid my mother's grave I sunk into the ground in front of it. My hands covered my face as tears continued to stream down my face. The ground was muddy and the pants I was wearing became dirty. I must look awful there as I sat on my own.

I sat on the ground for what felt like days, and at some point I had stopped crying. I looked at the grave and touched it lightly while thinking to myself. I was more calm now and started to reign In my powers.

I looked down at the ground and noticed that it looked like it was burned. I sighed as I hoped that I hadn't set anything on fire. Pyrokinesis was the new thing. I was already well on my way to have it mastered, but it was a pain to practice it without setting things on fire.

"Mom… What should I do? I can't tell them yet, I don't want them to know. I do want to trust them again, but how can I? I know that I love Oliver and even with a broken heart and 2 years of healing I still can't let him go. I try to let Nico in but the moment i'm alone I start thinking of Oliver"

"I wish you were here mom, you were always so good with your words. You could always find the right thing to say. If you were here you would probably tell me to go tell the boy exactly what I felt, but i'm not strong enough." My hand touched the grave again and the sound of raindrops were the only thing breaking the silence.

I remembered one day in Africa when it had been raining. The tribe had been so happy and celebrated the rain which so many others took for granted. With that thought in my mind I stopped looking to the rain in sadness but let it wash over me. I was angry at myself, I had forgotten what I had learned in those two years. I didn't need their approval to be happy and I certainly didn't need them to be my family.

I needed to look forward and stop feeling sorry for myself. I looked at the situation with new eyes and started to think. Would I stay? I had many friends all over the world and many of them would help me get some good cases to work with.

But would it be right to leave things as they were? No it didn't feel right to just up and leave. Then again it couldn't continue like this either, I needed to distance myself from them. It hurt my heart to think those words but I knew that I needed space so I could think more clearly.

It was time to go home, my clothes were dirty and I was soaked wet. I started walking when I remembered my keys were still in the bag that I left at work. I could easily teleport to the inside of my own apartment but I would still need to get the keys eventually. I changed my direction to the office, the thought of talking with my boss or Lin made me sigh loudly.

As I walked I started to shiver, the water was cold and I didn't have my jacket on. For a moment there was no people around and I began to think of the consequences of teleporting. There was still half an hour of walking left before I was at the office and walking that distance like this would surely make me sick. I was tired and for once I wouldn't care if Oliver would see me teleport.

I took a quick peek around and waited for the right timing and then poof, I was gone. The warmth of the office was so good that I just wanted to sit down there for hours. I barely noticed Oliver staring at me and quickly got my bag so I could leave.

"Mai?!" I looked over at him, Lin suddenly showed up behind him. He had a cellphone in his hand and just now I noticed that my cellphone was ringing. I dismissed the call and gave a weak smile in their direction.

"Yes, boss, I teleported. And yes i'm totally fine as long as that assistant of yours can keep his mouth shut" The last part came out a bit harsh but I didn't care.

Oliver looked short on words, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. Lin stayed silent, a hurt expression on his face.

"How long have you been able to do this?!" Oliver finally found some words to use. I sighed.

"It doesn't really matter, you have nothing to do with it either way." I shook my head and when he was about to protest I took up my hand to stop him.

"I'm tired and soaked, do you really want to do this now?" I gave him a glare and he winced.

"We will talk about this at some later date" I grabbed the bag tightly and teleported out of there.

I arrived at my home and got into the shower. After I was done and in my pajamas I went into the kitchen to grab a snack. As i ate I heard my phone go off and went to check who it was. To be honest I thought it would be Lin but instead it was Nico. I answered the phone in a hurry.

"Nico!"

"Don't you Nico me, do you know how worried I was? Lin called me and told me what happened, he is probably still out there looking for you" I looked to the floor.

"I'm sorry, and im fine, Lin is at the office. I saw both him and Oliver briefly when I teleported in to get my bag"

"WHAT! You let them see you teleport?"

"Yes but it doesn't bother me that they know, I was just too tired to care at the moment"

"Oh well… As long as it's fine with you then I won't say anything against it. Do they know about the other stuff?" He sounded a little concerned.

"Lin does but I have a feeling he won't say anything to the others. Oliver is still in the dark though. But surely not for long with what I showed him today"

"So you will tell them?"

"No, I want some time to think through how I should go about doing it"

"Don't use too long then, I will hopefully be coming back soon" He sounded sad, and somehow I felt there were something wrong. I frowned.

"Are you okay? What was the emergency? Is it serious?"

"I won't lie to you, but I also cannot tell you the whole truth right now. Physically im fine and more than that I can't say" I started worrying but reminded myself that Nico is a tough guy.

"Okay, I will wait for you then. I miss you"

"I miss you too, goodbye"

"Goodbye" I ended the call and stared at the phone.

Here I was complaining about myself and how hard it was to talk to the others, and there he was dealing with an actual emergency. I hoped it wouldn't be long until I saw him again. I took another bite of the snack and decided to call Lin.

I put the phone up to my ear and waited patiently for him to pick up the phone. It didn't take long before his voice came through.

"Taniyama"

"Hi Lin, I thought that I would give you a quick call"

"I have…." He was cut off as someone took his phone.

"Mai! Why didn't you tell me you could teleport, do you know how dangerous it is to use that ability" I shook my head at his words, who did he think I was? An idiot?

"I had no reason to tell you, and by the way I do actually know how dangerous it is"

"Well clearly you don't, what if you had passed out?! Wait… did you pass out?" He was almost cute with how much he worried about me. It still didn't change the fact that I knew what I was doing.

"No Oliver, I didn't pass out. I'm fine and not too tired either. But I think we should talk about my position at the office" It became quiet at the other end. I took it as a sign to continue talking.

"I think I should quit as your assistant and just be an investigator that comes to cases from now on" This would also make it possible for me to work with other cases outside of shibuya from time to time.

"Why? You don't have anything else to do" He sounded concerned.

"You don't know me Oliver, you don't know what I do when i'm not at work. And I have no obligation to tell you either"

There was silence for a while, and I started wondering if he had hung up on me. Then suddenly he started talking again.

"Okay, but then I will only call if we need you for the case. That fine with you?" he seemed resigned.

"Yes, and don't forget how great of an medium I actually am" I smirked and hung up on him.

It was time for things to change, and if they wouldn't do it then I would. I can't be stuck with someone that wont talk properly with me. The only reason to stay at all, was because deep inside I knew that I would never have peace if I didn't talk it through with Oliver and the others. I was still too much of a coward about it myself but at least I could work with others too while waiting for one side to break.

* * *

 ** _2 months later_**

A couple of months went by quickly, with me appearing at cases occasionally. I had cases out of Japan as well, but only a few since I often got a case from Oliver.

When I finally did get a case from Oliver I quickly solved it without the others knowing. Sometimes I caught them glancing at me, but I just smiled and kept going with my thing. By now I think they have started to suspect something but irritatingly enough they kept their mouth shut.

At times I would let them have their fun and let them solve the case, just to see if they would comment on it, they never did. Lin had stayed quiet about my secret, but for each day that went by I found myself caring less about that and more about them leaving me alone.

Me and Nico also kept getting closer, sometimes even going on dates which made me forget about a certain someone. Oliver had caught on to me and Nico and would look hurt when he saw us together. That was his fault and I wouldn't let myself care about him, he could have had me ages ago.

This also made Nico more protective of me. If Oliver asked me to make tea, he would constantly argue about it not being a part of my job anymore. Nico was a good support to have but he could also be annoying with his overprotectiveness. It also worried me that he still hadn't told me about that family emergency of his.

At the moment I was having a nice cup of tea while watching the news. I sat in the sofa leaning on Nico, and he had a hand around my shoulders. It felt good to be relaxing like this from time to time.

The moment was ruined by a cellphone ringing. I glanced up at Nico who shook his head, it wasn't his phone.

"Who do you think it is?" I got up from the sofa putting my tea on the table in the process.

"I think we both know who it probably is" Nico answered while glaring at the phone now in my hand.

"Yup it is him, I am so tempted to just ignore it" Every ring felt like it was mocking me.

"You shouldnt" we both sighed and I accepted the call.

"Hi boss" I answered in a not so happy tone.

"We have a case, all the others except yasu is coming. Will You and Nico come as well?" He was straight to business as always, but at least he kept it short. I looked towards Nico who nodded to me.

"Yes we will be coming, when is the meet up?"

"Tomorrow at 6 am" Then he hung up on me. I just pouted at the phone and quickly put it away.

"Did he say anything about the case?"

"Nope, as usual. But that is just him being himself so that's not really so bad. The meet up is tomorrow at 6 am" Nico ignored my words and dragged me down to the sofa again. I let myself relax against him and soon enough the irritation of the call had left me.

The next day we met up by the office, me and Nico was to sit in the van with Lin and Oliver. Oliver told us of what the case was about. This time it was a hotel up in the mountains. It was a place for nature lovers and there were often weddings or other celebrations held there. Usually they lost people just once or twice in a year, but lately people had started to disappear that much in a week.

Business was starting to go badly for them and they decided to seek help. Of course Oliver made sure it was a proper case before taking it. They had supposedly showed a footage of someone being dragged through the floor and that had been enough to convince Oliver to take it. I felt it was going to be dangerous case, but I wasn't too worried about it. We were a strong team after all. The danger also meant we had to be more careful I would be sure to tell the others when we arrived.

On the way up which were a few hours' drive I got some sleep.

 _DREAM START_

I woke up to see a school in front of me, It was a beautiful place. I could understand that people would want to come here. I looked around to see if I could find anything, but nothing looked odd out here so I continued into the school.

The school was huge and looked nice on the outside, but on the inside I felt a ominous and evil presence. There were many ghosts her as if all the students were still here. Some looked more sane than others while some hid in a corner mumbling frantically to themselves.

I could see that none of them was the culprit of the disappearances. None of them had that sharp and evil aura around them. I could only assume that they were unfortunate victims. There were older people as well, some that clearly were teachers as the students bowed to them and kept out of their way as if the teachers were going to hit them.

Besides some exceptions most of the ghosts behaved like students. If there were some who didn't it seemed like they were ignored. There was a girl going around calling everybody crazy for doing this. All the ones she tried to call out to just kept doing what they were doing like she didn't exist. She could give me some answers and I started walking over to her.

I was just about to call out when a staff member grabbed her by her shoulder.

"Hey! What are you doing?" She looked angry at the girl.

"You know what this means" the girl looked horrified.

"No! No please don't send me there!"

"Hey!" I wanted to help the girl who acted like she was going to hell. I ran over there and was going to stop the teacher from doing anything when the teacher turned their focus on me.

"Who are you? It isn't allowed with guests here" The teacher pushed me so hard that I fell down to the floor which in turn woke me up.

 _DREAM END_

That shocked me, somebody threw me out of a dream, and I hadn't had that happen to me in a while. I almost forgot that I was in a car with four others, but luckily stopped myself before I could say anything. I couldn't help but smile though.

This was going to be a challenging case.

"Did you have a dream?" I looked over to Oliver who sat in front of me and nodded. It was now that it was a bit sad that I was hiding my powers. It would have been fun to speculate with him. But alas I had to be careful to not reveal that I could control my dreams like I could. But then again it wouldn't hurt to show him that I was a bit more capable than the old me.

"Yeah, I saw a school and went inside. There were a bunch of people inside and I was about to talk to one of them when I was thrown out if the dream. It was so weird too. There were staff and most people were students, if it wasn't for me knowing that it was a dream I would have thought it was a proper school" I saw Oliver was thinking, he didn't say anything so I went looking out the window.

"Are you okay?" Nico asked and put an arm around my shoulders so I could lean into him.

"Yes, it was a bit shocking to be thrown out but other than that i'm totally fine" I looked ahead at Oliver and saw him slightly glaring at Nico. It was so obvious that he liked me but I was starting to forget my love for him. It still hurt but it was not as bad since I started getting together with Nico.

It took an hour more before we arrived. The hotel looked beautiful and I understood why people liked it. It would be a shame if they had to take it down because of the ghosts. I was certain that this was the exact same place the school had been so I came to the conclusion that there had been a school before the hotel were here.

One of the staff came and showed the way to our base. After that it was the same old with getting the equipment in place. Most of the cameras were inside, but we had one on the outside to be on the safe side. We also had the rule of no one going around on their own.

"Okay, I want Hara and Matsuzaki to go around and get a feel for where there are the most ghosts. Housho, Brown and Nico are going to go take temperature of the rooms. Mai stays here with me and Lin to see if she can get anything from her dreams" Nico was about to protest, he looked uneasy to not be with me here. I stopped him with a glare silently telling him to do as Oliver said. For once he ignored me.

"I'm going to stay with Mai. Brown and Housho can manage on their own" I internally facepalmed. At the same time I couldn't help but smile at his overprotectiveness. He knew that I would find trouble. Before Oliver could answer back I told him off.

"Nico, go with John and Monk. I will be okay here, I won't go running off" I smiled, I knew that he knew that I would find enough trouble just by going to sleep. He luckily gave up and sighed as he glared at Oliver.

"So take care nothing happens to her" He must have been very uneasy to be like this. He knew I was more than strong enough to handle most of what could happen. He left with John and monk each one with a radio on them.

"Wow way to be dramatic, you know he must really like you" Ayako was trying to hint at something, but we already sorted that stuff out.

"Of course he is worried about his girlfriend who always finds trouble" I smirked at the shocked faces in the room. Ayako looked like she would pass out any moment but settled on.

"Really? When did this happen?!" I waved her off trying to ignore the question.

"Don't you two have a job to do" She didn't look like she would go any time soon but masako dragged her out the room with whispers of them getting the answers later. I would look forward to it. I looked over at Oliver who tried all he could to not look at me. I wonder how he thought of it, but quickly put it aside to lay down on the couch. A pillow already there waiting for me.

* * *

 **Here I will put answers and thanks to reviewers.**

 **First I want to thank CrazyDice, gelle and Lucy for the reviews from before this chapter.**

 **Lucy N. Dragneel: Yes I couldn`t agree more. Mai won`t forgive them too easily and I hope I showed that a little in this chapter. And Thank You!**

 **carina. cozeres: Thank you! I`m happy that you feel that way :)**

 **SuperFan32: Thank you! Sometimes I cant believe that someone actually like my stories.**


	5. Chapter 5: Dreaming

**Welcome to a new chapter of I have changed. Thank you for reading and reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own ghost hunt.**

* * *

 _I looked over at Oliver who tried all he could to not look at me. I wonder how he thought of it, but quickly put it aside to lay down on the couch. A pillow already there waiting for me._

DREAM START

I opened my eyes to the school building again. I was outside of it and this time I was prepared to stay out of sight of the teachers. I went through the doors alert of my surroundings. It looked quiet now and I tried deciding where I wanted to go. In the end I just began to walk around randomly. I walked for a good 15 min before I found myself outside the door to the principle. I heard a voice inside and put my ear to the door.

"….I said about going out. You aren't allowed to go out. I think the punishment will be needed" It was a strong and angry voice of a man.

"No! Please don't! I will be good! I won't ever go against you again!" The sound of screams was so loud that I had to step back to not go deaf. Suddenly the screams stopped midway, I wanted to know what happened the person.

Even though it was dangerous to go inside I figured that it would be worth it if I got the answers. I opened the door to find a man sitting behind a desk. He looked angry, and it worried me that the other person wasn't here. He glared at me and I glared right back. He wouldn't scare me away I didn't go through all that training to be scared of this guy.

"Who are you!" He almost screamed at my face.

"What did you do with the person who was here?" I said straight back at him.

"I don't take kindly to people sneaking around here" he ignored the question.

"What are you doing to the students here?" He was most likely also responsible for the hotel guests disappearing but one problem at a time.

"I think you need a proper punishment for your intrusion" I tensed up ready to take whatever he would throw at me.

What I wasn't prepared for was the floor opening up and me falling down a hole. Luckily I had enough control to not hit the ground but float down safely. I looked up to find the expected darkness to be there. I looked around to find myself in a hallway or what looked to be a hallway. The floor and walls were of stone and there were no doors. I saw a turn up ahead and was going to walk over there when a voice stopped me.

"Please don't go, you will be killed" It was a wonder that I hadn't seen her before. She glowed softly in the dark, a scared frown on her face. She was also right beside me which was why I was confused as to how I had not seen her. I recognized her as the same girl I had seen earlier when I first dreamed of this place.

After she was reassured that I would not leave she tugged herself into a ball and looked downright terrified and also lonely. I couldn't help but sit down beside her and give her a sideways hug.

"How can you be so relaxed" Her voice was shaking.

"I can leave whenever I want so i'm not worried" She looked surprised at me.

"So you are alive then" I nodded and she started to cry.

"I wish I was alive, I was stuck here all my life and even when i'm dead I have to stay here" I held her close again giving her some comfort. I wished I could have saved her, but I was here now and would help her as well as I could.

"I'm here to help you all, You don't have to be scared anymore" She clung to me and I gave her time to calm down before I started asking any questions.

"What is this place?" She looked up at me.

"It's the punishment. Not many comes alive out of here. If they do they are not the same as before" I was going to ask her what she meant, but someone was trying to wake me up. I didn't want to leave the girl and I was about to get answers. It became quiet again so I took the chance to concentrate on the girl beside me.

"What happens here?" she didn't want to look at me anymore but she didn't let go of me either.

"There are traps everywhere, this whole place is a m….." I didn't get to hear the rest.

DREAM END

I gasped loudly as I sat up on the couch. I started to cough a little because of the shock I got. I registered my hair clinging to me because it was wet. That must have meant that someone threw water on me. The second thing I registered were the noise around me. Someone were arguing, which I saw where Naru, Nico and Monk. The last thing I noticed where Ayako hugging me with tears in her eyes. I must have scared them when I didn't wake up at first.

"How could you! She could have been hurt!" Nico directed it at Naru who were still holding a cup.

"She needed to wake up!" Naru was really angry.

"I'm sorry Nico but Naru is right, she could have had been trapped for all we know. It was for…"

"Best for her? Or for you? Do you have any idea what consequences that could have had?"

Nico were actually right. It was always better to come out of a dream on your own if you could. Sometimes waking people up like this could hurt them more than helping.

"Nico" I felt a headache coming on, I needed it to be quiet. I knew that he wanted to say more but when he looked at me his eyes softened with worry and instead came running over to me.

"Are you okay?" Luckily Naru and monk followed his example and became quiet as well.

"I have a headache, what happened here?" Ayako went to find some pills while Nico explained what happened.

"You wouldn't wake up, they became worried and decided that throwing water on you were a good idea" It was the short version but I didn't need to know more. I was just happy when Ayako came with the pills and a glass of water.

"What happened in the dream?" Naru asked. I was tempted to not say anything but figured that I should at least be professional enough to give him the information.

"I was in the school I told you about before, the principal gives out punishments to the students there. The punishment had something to do with throwing people into a basement of sorts. I was told about some traps but I couldn't get more info since YOU had to wake me up!"

I said the last bit with some irritation in my voice. I also glared at him, but I was too tired to keep it up for long.

"Naru i'm not completely blind and can see that you wanted to protect me, but please don't do that again. Especially when Nico goes against it, he actually knows what i'm capable of"

"And what are you capable of?" Masako decided to ask.

"We heard about the teleportation from Naru" I winced at the nickname, it was a reminder of the past. I decided to let that be and focus on the first part, anger simmering under my skin.

"Have you no sense of secrecy? When did I ever tell you that you could tell anyone about that?" I glared harshly at Oliver who at least had some decency to look guilty.

I got up from the couch, I had a splitting headache now and the dizziness was not letting up. Nico took my hand so I could lean on him until the worst of it was over.

"Mai…" Oliver just didn't know when to quit.

"No don't give me that crap. The important thing to know is that i'm not the same girl from two years ago. I have had the ability to dream for over 3 years now, it may be hard to believe it but I have actually gained control in that time" By now I was clinging to Nico like a lifeline.

"This mess is your fault, not mine. And if you may excuse me i'm going out to get some air" I let Nico lead me out the door.

We left the others and took the shortest route out. The air felt good on my skin and lessened my headache. Nico still held me, worried about me. I was happy he was here. We found a bench and sat down.

We didn't need to say anything at first, I needed the quietness and Nico respected that. It was dark out and the stars shined beautifully where they hung in the sky. I closed my eyes and listened to the wind that came through the woods. I could hear Nico's breath beside me and felt his warm hand holding around me.

Even with the heaviness in my head I felt the need to go see that girl again.

"I will go dream again, could you.."

"Yes, I will stay here until you awake. Please be careful my princess" I smiled a little at the nickname and let him have a kiss.

"I won't be long" I said under my breath as I let sleep take over me.

DREAM START

I opened my eyes to cries who broke my heart. In front of me the girl sat with her hands around her knees and head downwards. I ran over to her and carefully took her hands in mine. She gasped loudly and looked hurriedly up at me with fear. I silenced her and took her in my arms.

"It's okay, It's going to be okay" I wish I hadn't been woken up, the poor girl clearly needed me here.

"I was so scared, you were suddenly gone" She sobbed.

"I'm sorry, my friends woke me up. I gave them a good shouting about it though so it probably won't happen again" The girl only clinged to me tighter than before.

"What were you saying before?" When the girl had calmed down a little she started talking again.

"If you take a wrong step here the traps can kill you, if you're lucky you get a quick death. The only way out of here is by finding the exit" What a horrible place! And the principal sent students down here?

"I had almost gotten out of here, I could see the light from the outside. But…" She didn't need to elaborate I understood what she were saying. She had almost gotten out and even seen the exit and then something killed her. That must have been so scary, and then having to be stuck to this place. I couldn't even imagine how she must have felt.

"What do you mean by finding the exit, isn't it just to follow the hallway?" She shook her head sadly.

"No, this place is a maze. It's a huge one too and all underground" Suddenly it fell into place I figured out where the people were taken.

I had to warn the others but it didn't feel right to leave the girl here. In the end I decided I could help her more by going. I had already figured out that the principal was a cruel man who only wished to continue his wrongdoings, even after death.

"I have to go" I could see in her face that she didn't want me to.

"Please don't leave me!"

"I wish I could stay here with you, but I need to warn the living people of this danger" She nodded sadly and I gave her one last hug.

"I will make this end, I promise" She let go of me and gave me a weak smile. When the darkness surrounded me I heard a name.

"My name is Kida" I smiled.

"Mine is Mai" I whispered back.

* * *

 **Kirah14: Thanks!**

 **CrazyDice: Nope! She is going to make this hard for them. And Nico`s emergency is going to stay secret for a little while longer, but I can tell you that it is no small emergency!**

 **Lucy N. Dragneel: Thanks!**

 **lalia:** **Yes i can see what you are talking about. I have my concerns as well.**

 **I dont really think too much about the ages, but Mai is around 19-20 years old and Nico is about the same age.**

 **Mai and the team was seperated for about 2 years. And I would recommend to read the prequel, it is not too long and would also show how she met Nico.**


	6. Chapter 6: Trapped?

**This chapter took forever! It also became much longer than expected, but I decided that you deserve a long chapter so I let it be. At another note, i`m going to be away for 2 weeks so there wont be an update the next few weeks.**

 **Thank you to all who reads and reviews.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost hunt.**

* * *

" _I will make this end, I promise" She let go of me and gave me a weak smile. When the darkness surrounded me I heard a name._

" _My name is Kida" I smiled._

" _Mine is Mai" I whispered back._

 **DREAM END**

The moment I woke up, I got on my feet. That was not the smartest thing as the dizziness was still there. Without Nico I would have fallen down like an idiot.

"Mai?!" I ignored Nicos worried cry. Instead I dragged him towards the house.

"There is a maze right under us. A huge underground maze. The principal of the school used it as a punishment for the students. There are deadly traps down there"

We arrived at the base and even though it felt a bit awkward to be here, I pressed on.

"Naru! I have something important to tell you about this dream I had just now" I Didn't wait for his reply and started to tell him of what I dreamed.

"We need to find the entrance to it" I said.

"And how do you figure we do that?" Naru replied. I kept my breath for a second before I realised that Naru was still waiting for an answer.

"Well.. We could…" My voice faded out. I just wanted to help the ghosts. Especially my new friend Kida.

"I will try to find it in my dreams" I said after a few seconds.

"No" I couldn't believe my ears.

"What? Why?"

"Have you even looked in the mirror?" As he said that I was reminded of the headache and dizziness. Suddenly I started to think that maybe he was right.

I looked at Nico who I was still keeping a hand on to stay steady. He had this awful smirk on his face, I almost felt betrayed and pouted in defeat.

"I think he is right on this one princess, you can wait until tomorrow" I didn't want to give in, it was awful to know that Kida was all alone and scared while I got to sleep.

"Alright, but after i'm rested I am going to go figure out exactly where that entrance is. It could be wise to find papers on the school that was here" With that I took Nico with me to the girls bedroom. Ayako followed behind us silently.

When we reached the room Nico helped me to my bed, I knew he had to leave.

"You can go Nico, I will be fine" I smiled at him to reassure him.

"Okay, and don't you dare to do any astral projecting before you are rested" He looked at me sternly before nodding to Ayako and then left the room.

"He cares about you" Ayako sat down on her bed with a sad smile on her face. She didn't look me in the eye, but it felt like she wanted to say something.

"Yeah I know, just like you did" She flinched at the words. I was just about to lie down when she talked again.

"We are really sorry, I'm really sorry for what we did. When we came back and you weren't home, we got so scared. We want to make it up to you somehow, but we need to communicate and we haven't been doing that" I don't know what she wanted to hear from me but if she wanted me to swallow those words and forget what they did she wouldn't get it.

I lied down and turned away from her, the sadness was drowning the room.

"I can't forgive you right now, and I don't know if I ever could" There were tears in my eyes which I kept hidden away from her.

"We still care about you" Her voice was low, almost whispering. I sighed.

"I don't hate you Ayako, but you have to understand that to me you guys were very important people to me. What you and the others did will never fade away" And with that I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

When I woke up it was to a great commotion.

"You don't have to worry" That sounded like Nico.

"Dont worry!? Mai said it was highly dangerous down there and you tell us not to worry!" Monk was at it again. Something must have happened while I slept.

I sat up and was happy to feel that I wasn't dizzy anymore and that my headache was miles better. Everyone was in the room and Nico sat calmly on my bed while Monk was standing and looking frustrated. Ayako sat on her bed with masako while John and Lin sat on Masako's bed.

"Hey Nico?" He looked at me with a loving gaze but it didn't go long before he was frowning.

"Kazuya is missing" He averted his eyes from me like he was ashamed.

"Oh, How long has he been gone?"

"How can you be so calm?" Monk looked livid but I couldn't blame him.

"An hour, they wanted to wake you, but I insisted that you should sleep a bit more" He ignored Monk.

"Ok I will go find him then. If he is as smart as he should be then he will stand still and wait" I was about to dream when John interrupted.

"Are you sure? You still seem a bit tired"

"You don't have to worry, i'm good enough" I gave them a reassuring smile and lied down to sleep.

"How can you be so sure of yourself?" I got a little irritated that they would keep me up.

"Someone taught me what signs to look out for, so I know that I will be fine. And now you should let me leave so I can get that idiotic boss of ours" They stayed quiet so I took that as a sign that I could go.

 **DREAM START**

I opened my eyes to the darkness and thought of where I wanted to go. For just a moment I felt eyes on my back. I couldn't see anyone around me but I just knew that someone had been looking at me. I didn't recognise the presence so I put the thought away until later. I was more worried about Kida and Oliver.

The maze appeared around me, and i found that I was alone. That made me worry about two things, where was Kida and where was Oliver? I didn't think Kida would leave this spot and I also thought Oliver would have ended up here. Kida was already dead so I had no need to worry about that, but Oliver was very much alive and that meant he could die from the traps.

If that idiot actually moved then I needed to give him a lecture about safety when I found him. "KIDA" The echoes of my shout went far but still I heard nothing back.

"OLIVER" Still there was only silence as I stood there.

I couldn't stand there forever so I started walking making sure that I kept listening for someone.

At the end of the hallway there was a split in the path where I could go either right or left. I looked both ways and took a close look at it. The right road looked darker and I could see a corpse a little ways down. I felt relief when I saw that it wasn't Oliver, it did make me wanna go faster though.

The left road felt lighter with only some cracks here and there. I took the right road and trusted my feelings to lead me. As I went deeper into the maze I could hear voices around me. Some crying out for an end and some who condemned the place. It didn't take long before I met the first ghost. It was a man with dark hair and a small beard. He seemed to be in the thirties and looked nice enough.

I could see that it wouldn't be any harm to say hello so I did just that.

"Hi" I said.

"Hey" He returned before he started mumbling to himself all lost in his own world.

"Excuse me?" I tried again.

"Yes excuse you! Can't you see i'm busy here?" He didn't look busy to be honest.

"Well, no you don't look busy at all. I was just wondering if you have seen a girl or a boy pass through here"

He looked over at me. "There are lots of girls and boys down here you should be a bit more specific"

"The girl is about this high and has long reddish hair while the boy is a bit higher than me with dark hair. The boy never smiles"

"Yes I have seen those two, the boy looked angry with himself. The girl was following him trying to tell him to stay put. Which wasn't very effective, he mostly ignored her"

"Thank you, i'm going to go find them and then get out of here" I started walking.

"Are you even dead, you aren't scared and are quite calm" I shrugged my shoulders in indifference. I continued walking down the path.

"You are Alive! No don't leave me alone, let me come with you" I ignored him and kept going. He probably took that as a yes but I didn't care either way. That idiot scientist was truly being an idiot.

I usually had patience with ghosts, but today I wasn't in a good mood.

"Could you please stop talking!" I shouted right back at the guy when he asked me for the 50th time about something i really couldn't care less about right now.

"Okay, I was wrong you weren't alive, no need to be so stingy about it. For a moment you seemed so collected that you couldn't possibly be dead"

"And why do you care?" I asked as I continued walking down the hallway and took a right at the first turn. It suddenly popped into my mind that there was something fishy about this guy.

"I want to get out of here of course" He said but somehow he looked a bit nervous and didn't even look at me.

"What do that have to do with the fact if i'm alive or not?"

"So you are alive?" He asked.

I became quiet, and wondered if I should tell him.

"Mai?" A small voice were heard from ahead, i carefully stepped forward.

"Kida?" A figure came hurling at me. Something clinged on me and it didn't take many seconds before I realized it was Kida.

"Kida! there you are, i was looking for you" The poor girl had tears streaming down her face. I hugged her strongly back and was happy to see her.

"Are you okay?" She nodded and reluctantly let me go.

"So your name is Mai? I like it, it fits you" I had forgotten about the guy for two seconds, what a glorious two seconds it was.

"Since you know my name, could you give me yours?" he looked at me with a are you serious look.

"I'm sorry but I really shouldn't, but you can call me Carlos if you want something to call me"

With that I knew, I knew that he didn't belong here, he didn't die here.

"Kida, where is the guy you were following?" She looked up at me worried.

"He is just ahead of here. He was really mean, and wouldn't listen to me when I told him to stop"

"He is my boss, can you show the way?" She nodded and started walking in the right direction. I sneaked a look over at Carlos, he met my eyes and suddenly I remembered someone looking at me when I arrived here. I gave him a warning look but stayed silent.

After a few turns I saw a familiar back standing in the darkness. With his dark clothes he could have been one with the shadows here.

"Oliver!" I shouted and he turned around.

"Mai" I nodded before I remembered that he had been going around here.

"Are you crazy! You could have been killed! Was it so dangerous to just wait for me?" I glared at him and he glared right back.

"I have been doing just fine, there was no need for you to come" I slapped him hard, he deserved it when he couldn't admit that he needed help.

He looked shocked at me, I just glared back.

"It is not often you deserve a good slap, but even you should know to stay put when you don't know where you are. You also knew about the traps but clearly you don't care about your own life" with that he looked a bit taken back but not enough in my eyes. I decided to ignore him and keep going. After all I had to make sure he got out of this place.

"We should keep going, Carlos?" he looked at me "Could you show us the way out? It would take less time" he nodded and took the lead.

Kida grabbed my hand and Oliver followed us silently.

"Why were you so curious if I was alive or not Carlos?"

"You will understand when you see the exit" That made me curious.

"So where do you come from? It doesn't sound like you come from Japan"

"Somewhere in America, but I have mostly been traveling around looking for something"

"Oh? What are you looking for?" A ghost with a goal?

"Somewhere to belong"

After that we just walked in silence, Carlos seemed a little more down and Kida kept clinging to my hand.

"You do know that they are dead?" Carlos and Kida stiffened up and I couldn't help but get mad at Oliver.

"You do know that the dead are not always bad right?" I said back to him.

"You dont have to worry about them, they have no bad intentions. I have seen their aura so I can guarantee it" Just as I said that an arrow came flying out of the wall and Kida dragged me out of the way. Oliver grabbed me by the arm in worry.

"See? There is no need to worry" The pride didn't leave his face but he did take a good look at the walls now that a trap had showed itself.

The further we got the more traps we encountered and the more Oliver started to pale.

"Are you okay?" Kida was just too nice. Oliver didn't even think to answer right away, but a glare from me set that straight.

"Yes" He became quiet but after a few seconds he stared at me.

"You are astral projecting" I nodded quickly.

"Who taught you? I thought my brother had left" It was an honest question from his side, but it made me mad to think about those hardships I had to go through.

"Someone I am very good friends with today" He looked a bit irritated at my answer.

"The same one who helped you with teleportation?" It was about time for him to start asking questions but it didn't change my mind about how I thought of him.

"Nope, someone else can take that credit" I looked at him with a smirk.

"Why is Nico following you around?" Well isn't that cute, now he is attacking my boyfriend.

"You should ask my boyfriend about that" I saw him flinch at that but still I wouldn't me sorry about it. He should say sorry before expecting to have any chances with me. I decided to give him a bone.

"You know that trip around the world that I have been telling you about?" I couldn't help but smile wildly as he gave me a stare.

"I haven't been totally honest about that trip" He looked so confused that I wanted to take a picture and hang it on my wall. I kept quiet after that and it didn't take long before he requested that I continue on my thought. Which I quickly answered back that there was nothing to continue. He would have to work for the answer to his questions, I will never let him have them for free.

It took a while and a few encounters with ghosts that was a bit too mentally lost for my taste. But in the end we made it to the exit. I saw at once what Carlos had meant with what he said. The door was sealed shut so the ghosts would be trapped in here.

"I see what you mean when you say you need someone living"

"Right! What heartless bastard would make something like this. I was honestly just curious about this door and suddenly I couldn't get out!" From what I could decipher from the seals it looked like it was made in such a way that ghosts could come in but not go out. It looked old so it could very well have been here before even the school.

"Naru try to push open the door" He did as told after glaring at me. For one small second I thought the door would open but then it turned out that it was locked or something. He even tried to kick it down but with no success. I wondered if I could go through it myself, but after a failed try I gave up on the idea.

"This is why it was important for you to be alive, since you are astral projecting you can just go back to your body and open the door from the outside" Carlos seemed to think he was a genius.

"And how will I do that? I don't know where this door is" Carlos visibly deflated before he suddenly popped up with a new suggestion.

"I can try to explain it to you, I have after all seen it on the outside. I don't know where it is in relation to where you are though. Where is it that you are?"

"I'm at a hotel, there was a few disappearances so we came to check it out"

"Oh so that's where those people came from, those poor poor people they didn't have a chance down here. Almost all of them died soon after they arrived" I somehow didn't get how he could say that with a straight face, but then again he was dead so maybe he just stopped caring or something.

"You are a strange one huh?" he only smiled at that. I started to like this guy.

"Excuse me but could you hurry it up. I'm quite tired of being stuck here" Oliver did have a point and I could see how it wasn't comfortable to be here. Kida looked up at me with puppy eyes, it seemed like someone else also wanted to get out.

"Okay Okay Carlos try to explain it and I will go see what I can do" He nodded happily.

"There is a trap door in the forest somewhere, you need to go down that and then there is the door" I waited for a more detailed explanation, and when he didn't come with one I facepalmed.

"And how is that going to help me?" He was confused.

"Well it is in the forest, is there anything else I should say?" I hit my head on the wall this time. It was more painful than one would think.

"I thought it was a good explanation" I looked at Kida who stood there innocently. I continued to hit my head on the wall, why were the ghosts so stupid.

"Where in the forest?" Oliver decided to butt in, and for once I thought thank you Naru. And ignored the fact that I called him Naru.

"A forest is a forest, how can there be a point different from another point?" Kida just nodded her head in agreement. Both me and Oliver looked at each other at loss for what to do.

"Oh well you can deal with them N-Oliver, i'm leaving" I almost called him Naru out loud.

 **DREAM END**

I opened my eyes to find Nico sitting at my bedside with a book in his hand. No one else was in the room so I took his hand. He looked at me with a small smile.

"Did you find anything?"

"Yes I found him, but the exit was sealed so neither he nor the ghosts could get out. The only clue we got is that there is a trap door in the forest" He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"We have found a map of the surrounding area, maybe we can get a clue from that" I nodded. We both got up on our feet and headed towards the base. On the way we picked up Masako and John. We had some small talk on the way.

When we arrived Monk and Ayako sat on the couch, Ayako ready to beat the poor guy with magasin while Monk tried to avoid the hits as much as he could. I giggled a little but then remembered that our boss was still in a cold dark maze with two ghosts we had just met. When I thought about it that way it would probably be a good idea to get him out as fast as possible.

"I think you have forgotten that a certain someone is stuck in a deadly maze with lots of ghosts in it" the room became quiet, and suddenly every eyes were on me. Lin watched me with worried eyes.

"There is no need to worry as of yet. Oliver is fine and is waiting by the exit but the door is locked and there is also a seal on it keeping the ghosts inside. The only clue I have right now as to the whereabout of the door is that there is a trap door in the forest. A certain ghost was too foolish to be able to say more. So we need a map and spread out" there was still light out which would last a little while.

Everyone agreed to the plan and it didn't take long before everyone were split into groups and ready to search the forest. I was naturally paired up with Nico, Lin was also on our team. John and Masako was in one group and Monk and Ayako was in another. Every group had a walkie talkie and a map. We could only stay out until sundown so we quickly got started.

"So you have befriended a ghost again" Nico said. Lin looked to me.

"Don't worry, i'm used to this type of thing" He only raised an eyebrow at me, he didn't look impressed.

"I know it isnt usual but the ghosts can be good people too"

"But they can also be good deceivers, you should be careful Taniyama" I sweatdropped. I started to think about Carlos and how odd he was. I had met many ghosts but none like him. He seemed so carefree in a way. I knew he hadnt deceived me but no one would probably believe me. It was perceived to be a bad thing to try and be friends with them.

I stopped walking Nico and Lin stopping a few feet ahead of me. Suddenly a picture showed itself to me, and idea that made me wanna do it right now. It took me a few seconds to realize Nico was talking to me. I was too caught up on how to execute the idea that seemed so wonderfully crazy.

"MAI!" I looked up in shock. A worried Nico was in front of me, a little bit too close right now though. I took in the looks they were giving me and decided that this idea was for the future, with a smile on my face I happily started walking again.

"I'm fine Nico, you worry too much. I was just too deep in my thoughts you know it happens" both he and Lin looked like they were about to ask something when a shout came from our right.

John and Masako found the trapdoor, and after everyone was together we decided that Lin would go down first. I was happy to not go down first when I saw how dark it was down there. Lin went down the ladder and I followed right after him. At the bottom there was a small room and a door. The door was covered in signs and had been nailed down by a few boards.

Lin banged on the door and shouted for Oliver. Oliver replied after a few seconds and I could see Lin letting out a breath. Monk and Lin managed to get the boards off but looked unsure about the seals. I was about to open the door when Lin grabbed my arm.

"You sure about that?" He was afraid the seals had some kind of trap in it.

"Yeah, there shouldn't be any problems" he let me go. I opened the door no problem and out came Oliver.

I looked behind him but couldn't see Kida and Carlos. I frowned and was about to ask Oliver about it.

"They disappeared not long after you went. I think they are just around the corner" something didn't feel right. I let my senses go out and with alarm I ran into the maze. I barely heard the others shout after me.

"Carlos, Kida!" Oliver had been right, they were around the corner. But they weren't the only ones there. The principal was there as well, looking pissed.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Carlos protected Kida from the gust that came. Carlos looked worn and tired but also very much serious. He saw me and tried to tell me to run, but I wouldn't have it. The principal was a bastard and I would never back down to bastards.

"Carlos, Kida move behind me" they did as told and after they were out of the way I said a few incantations. The principal left quickly after that but not before he threw me into a wall.

Nico seemed close to panicking, but I waved him off, I was fine. I was more than eager to get rid of the door so the ghosts wouldn't get trapped again. In hindsight I could probably have found other ways to get the door down. To just rip it off the hinges with my pk was most likely way too much. Had it not been for Nico I would have burned the door to the ground as well. He assured me that he would personally burn it if I just took a second to calm down.

I decided that I would let him do it and instead focus my attention on Carlos and Kida who stood silently in one corner with horrified expressions. From another corner I heard Masako whisper "remind me to never make her mad at me" but I just dismissed the comment for now.

"You two okay?" I asked the two ghosts with a bright smile on my face.

"Your mood change is incredible" I got a tick mark at that but ignored it as I turned to Kida.

"Yes, thank you. The principal is really scary"

"He doesn't deserve that title, call him bastard that's my new nickname for him" Kida got quiet.

"And also you are free now, you don't have to stay anymore" Kida looked at me. Suddenly she started tearing up. She cried for awhile it seemed that she needed that reminder.

"Thank you" It was a bit broken because of her crying but I didn't mind. I just ruffled her hair which got a laugh out of her. The tears were still flowing when she looked at me but now she was smiling. The gold light took over the room for a second. When it died down the girl was gone and I was staring at nothing.

"Aren't you going to say the same thing to me?" Carlos looked at me smugly.

"You don't need it" he seemed a bit miffed.

"You're right, i'm not like those other ghosts. I actually know how to defend myself from bastards"

"Yeah right, so you weren't stuck here after all then" he slouched in defeat.

"Thank you" I nodded happily.

"Mai, we should leave this basement. It's starting to get dark out" Nico said casually. As if I had not just chased away a ghost, ripped down a door and cleansed a ghost. The others followed us silently until we climbed up from the ladder. Nico had the door with him and was going to burn it the first opportunity he had.

"Mai when did you get pk?" John asked, but the question seemed forced like the others had sent him to ask it.

"In the two years we were apart" Nope i'm not giving them more than that.

"Then are you okay? Doesn't it drain you like it does Naru?" Masako came in beside me, John looked relieved to be out of the spotlight.

"Yes and no it doesn't drain me too much, but I really should eat and sleep when we get back" I answered.

"You are something else you know that?" Carlos said.

"I have been told that before, but shouldn't you get going? You have no reason to stay here anymore" I challenged him a little to see what he would do.

"No i'm in no hurry really, besides you are interesting to watch" what was that supposed to mean?!

"You do know that I can't just let a ghost like you start following me around, if I have no control over you who knows what you could do"

"Are you scared of me? and are you really willing to let me go? As you said yourself who knows what I could come up with" He was up to something and I was all for it, I liked this guy.

"So what do you suggest then?" I smiled deviously trying to make him say it.

"I think you know exactly what i'm saying" he wasn't budging. The others around us was looking at me weirdly except for Masako who seemed to be trying not to look at us. So he made himself invisible to the others then.

"And why would someone like you willingly say yes to such a deal?"

"I have my reasons and you do not seem to be the worst one to tie myself to" I smiled a bit cheekily at that, but decided it was time to end the charade. We could see the hotel coming up and I wanted this over with before we arrived.

"You will become my shiki then" Carlos smiled and nodded. He floated over to me and leaned into my ear.

"My real name is Edward Edwards" I blanked out, what poor soul deserved such a name he couldn't be serious.

"You can't be serious" he looked embarrassed, he was serious. He had my sympathy.

"Let's just get this over with!" i agreed. I was tired and the headache was returning. I put my hand out to him which he took and after a few words he was tied to me as my shiki.

"Only you can get a shiki like that" Nico was laughing. I felt heat in my cheeks but did my best to ignore it.

I was surprised to see the others staying quiet. They looked a bit down. Only Oliver had enough pride to look like he didn't care.

"I have changed a lot over the past two years, but i'm not heartless and I don't hate you. That doesn't mean that everything is okay though so don't act like it's fine" Even Oliver seemed guilty now.

I helped Nico with the door while the others went to the base in silence. We watched it burn in peace for a while until Nico decided he had something to say.

"Have they all apologised yet?" he held my hand and I let him.

"No but I do feel a bit lighter, only a little though" I squeezed his hand lightly.

"Some day when they have all apologised, what will you do then? Will you stay? or leave?" I looked to the ground. The headache seemed to worsen a little and my heart felt heavy.

"I don't know Nico, if I can find myself to forgive them then maybe I would like to stay and build a new relationship with them" he took his other hand under my chin and made me look at him.

"I will always be there for you" I hugged him tightly and let him hold around me.

When we got back to base the others seemed busy talking with each other. Oliver and Lin sat by the monitors watching out for any activity. Me and Nico had already discussed what would be a smart move and we both agreed to one solution.

"I will do a cleansing" they became quiet but Monk raced over to me.

"What! Are you crazy? You have done way too much, you should sleep you said so…"

"I meant tomorrow morning you idiot" It was just a playful remark but he flinched all the same.

"Are you sure? Shouldn't we get rid of the principal first?" It almost seemed pathetic that they would start doubting themselves now. I shook my head.

"And you shouldn't let me destroy your own opinion, I know that I can take on the principal with the cleansing, but if someone got a better suggestion then i'm all ears" they seemed to relax a bit more.

"Okay, if you think you have it under control then it's fine by me" John said. The others agreed and after deciding to do it first thing in the morning we got something to eat and got ready for bed.

Me and Masako waited for the bathroom to be free Ayako could take forever sometimes.

"Hey Mai?" I looked at Masako, she was shy and held something in her hand.

"I'm sorry for what we did two years ago, it wasn't right of us to do it and we should never have done it. I know it isn't going to make everything okay, but I wanted to give you something" she came forward and put something in my hand. It was a strap to put on my phone, on it was a small ghost. It was cute and the gesture made me wanna cry.

"You are right about this not making it okay, but all the same it means something to show that you care, thank you Masako" I took a closer look at the strap and quickly found my phone. As I attached it my heart felt a bit lighter and it was easier to give Masako a sincere smile.

"It glows in the dark, I thought it fit you too well so I couldn't help myself" I laughed, and couldn't agree more.

Masako joined in on the laughter and when I heard the bathroom door opening I decided to do something fun. I threw my pillow at Ayako, which was so shocked that it took her a few seconds before she threw it right back at me. I threw it at Masako who were already about to throw her pillow at me and before we knew it all three of us was a laughing mess on the floor. For one night it was okay to relax and pretend that we were a family again.

* * *

 **Lucy. N. dragneel : Well here it is!**

 **Nagisa maeda: Thank you! Can`t wait to tell about the emergency.**

 **Lady Angel Sanada Doji date: We will just have to wait and see.**

 **Carina: Thank you! I`m happily surprised to hear that, I havent really thought about that too much.** **I try to not let others decide my stories for me, I like to just write whatever seems more natural in the story. I`m not good with grammatics so you dont have to worry about that. (English is`nt my first language either)**


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